When You Need a Lift
by Artemis-chan of Redwing
Summary: Red vs Blue AU - It started on the playground and lasted the rest of their lives. Simmons and human!Sheila and their relationship through the years. A series of related one-shots
1. Need a Lift

**Notes:** First written in spring of 2006, this and the following chapters are my attempt at creating my own, very AU, canon for my favorite non-canon couple in Red vs Blue, Simmons and Sheila. Inspired in large part by a now-dead RP with **Dragonchan**, there is a nice thread of continuity through these. Enjoy!

* * *

Something about her caught his attention. Maybe it was the way she seemed to make herself smaller than all of the other girls in the class. And he found her to be kind of cute, in that kindergarten-mentality kind of way. He watched her from across the playground; she had been trying to reach the monkey bars for several minutes now. Cautiously he walked over to her and asked, "Need a lift?"

****

She winced as the paper hit her in the back of the head and fought back the onset of tears. The sound of someone trying to quietly get her attention distracted her.

"Sheila! Psst!" The whisper was coming from a few seats behind her, a voice she knew well.

"What, Simmons?" she whispered back, praying the teacher wouldn't yell at them. At least it wasn't a test...

"Read the note," he practically mouthed to her, pointing at the tightly folded piece of paper under her chair. Surprised, she did as commanded.

'Movie night, my house, tonight,' it read. 'Wanna come?' A small, hesitant smile spread across her features as she wrote her response.

'Sure! Where, when, and should I bring anything?' She waited for a few minutes after folding the note pack up and pushing it with her foot towards him before she heard his whisper and looked beneath her seat.

'It's gonna be you, me, some of the guys, and Alison,' read the reply. 'My house (see map on reverse), at 7. Maybe bring a dessert?' Turning the paper over she encountered a rather well-drawn map indicating his house in relation to the middle school. Her heart sank. There was no way she could walk halfway across town by herself, and her parents certainly wouldn't drive her over there just for a movie.

Sighing, she took out a fresh piece of paper. 'Can't go,' she wrote. 'I have no way to get there. Sorry.' Folding the note up intricately as every middle school girl automatically knows, she slid the note back to him. Before she could blink the reply was at her feet, and, with a sinking feeling, she opened it.

'So you need a lift, huh? Well, you can walk home with me after school, and my dad can ride you home after, no prob!'

She turned around to face him in disbelief. He was watching her anxiously, a small light of hope in his brown eyes. 'Really?' she mouthed, and he nodded earnestly in return. 'Then yes,' she replied silently. A huge grin broke out on his face.

****

He spotted her on the other side of the football field and absolutely failed to catch her eye. She was wearing the colors for the other school anyway, and he doubted she'd be looking for guys in the crowd. Sighing, he started to push his way through the massive homecoming crowd towards her. It was difficult to keep track of her gray and blue letter jacket in the press of people, and he lost sight of her after several minutes.

"Shit," he muttered, and leaned up against the fence, ignoring the game behind him. He idly scanned the crowd before him, a feeling of resigned depression falling over him. If she was who he thought she was, he hadn't seen her since the end of 7th grade; she'd moved away that summer and hadn't hardly told anyone.

"Excuse me," said a voice next to him, and he automatically made room on the fence, giving the person nothing more than a cursory glance as he did so. It took his brain several seconds to register the young woman's blonde hair and gray and blue jacket. When it did, he turned back to her in shock.

"Sheila?" he asked incredulously. The young woman turned to him in surprise.

"Do I know you?" she asked as she inpected his features. He fumbled for his words under her gaze.

"I...uh, that is..we, uh, went to elemtary school together. I'm...Dick Simmons." Mentally he berated himself, knowing that that did not go at all as planned. His expression remained hopeful as she stared at him, taking in his red and blue letter jacket, slightly tanned skin, and shaggy brown hair. Slowly, the light dawned in her eyes.

"Simmons? You had that movie night in 7th grade..." She grinned happily at him and then, without warning, threw her arms around him in a hug. He stumbled back slightly in surprise, knocking into the people behind him. In a few moments she had released him and stepped back, smiling broadly.

"I...IL'm having a little get-together tonight," she said, her expression turning a little shy. "Do you...want to come?" She looked at hime with hope shining in her eyes, and he knew he could never resist her. He paused, though, as he tried to get his thoughts into working order.

"I don't know where you live," he finally responded. Her face fell for a moment.

"I can give you a ride," she returned, brightening. A smile graced his features.

"Sure, then." SHe grabbed his hand and dragged him away from the crowd. "Where are we going?" he asked as he tried to keep up and keep his balance as well. She shot him a look over her shoulder that said their destination should have been obvious.

"to my car, silly," she said as she pulled him through the gates of the stadium. She didn't stop until they were in front of a bright blue Hummer. He wondered what was going on until he saw her pull some keys out of her jacket pocket.

"This is yours?" His surprise showed clearly on his face, and she paused in opening the driver's door to gaze at the ground bashfully.

"It was a gift from my uncle. He didn't really know what to get a niece for a graduation present, so..." She shrugged. "I ended up with the Tank," she said, indicating the vehicle with her head. He was about to ask her about the name of the Hummer when she climbed into it. "Coming?" she asked with a slight grin.

"Guess so," he replied with a chuckle, and he climbed into the vehicle.

****

She knew he wasn't going to be home, but that didn't stop her from looking for his car in the driveway as she pulled up to the house they shared with a few friends. It wasn't there, like she know it wouldn't be, and she sighed as she parked the Tank. "Better see what Donut's put together for dinner," she said to herself, trying to hide the lonely ache in her heart. Grabbing her bag from the passenger seat, she walked quickly in the chill night air to the house.

"Hey guys, I'm home," she said to Tucker and Church, who were busy playing Halo on XBoxLive in the living room. As expected, they grunted their greetings, and she dropped her things in the hallway and followed the delicious scents to the kitchen.

"Sheila!" Donut, the resident chef, exclaimed in surprise when she entered.

"Hey Donut," she smiled in return as he stepped away from his simmering pots to five her a hug.

"Dinner should be ready soon," he said, returning to his work. "Why don't you go up to your room and relax for a bit? I'll call you when everything's ready."

"Sure thing, boss." She took the dismissal for what it was, knowing how little DOnut liked to be interrupted when he was cooking. Grabbing her bag from the hall she slowly climbed the stairs to her room on the second floor. It was always so lonely when he was gone, and she tended to be out of the house more when he was off on his trips. Steeling herself for the feeling of emptiness she knew was coming, she opened the door.

The candlelight surprised her, her mind immediately jumping to thoughts of uncontrolable fires. That was before she caught sight of the meal laid out on the low table and the figure waiting expectantly at the other end. She froze in the dorrway, not wanting to believe her eyes. "Dick...?"

He smiled gently, rose, and walked around the table to her. He took her bag from her unresisting hands and placed it on the floor, shut the door, and enveloped her in a hug. Without thinking about it she wrapped her arms around his torso and inhaled, relishing the smell of him. After several long moments she spoke again.

"I thought you were supposed to be in Texas," she murmured into his neck. His answering chuckle reverbated through his chest to her.

"They let me come home a little early," he replied softly, pressing a kiss into her hair. She lifted her head and smiled at him.

"You must have had one hell of a reason. They hardly ever let people off trips early." She kissed his cheek, wondering what he'd done to get the time off.

"Well," he grinned, "when I told old Sarge what I wanted to do, he practically forced me onto the plane." She giggled, imagining the grizzled old sergeant pushing him onto a plane.

"And what did you want to do?" she asked, still amused by the mental image. She didn't notice the look of nervousness that flashed across his face. He took a step back from her, one hand dropping to his pocket.

"This," he said simply and dropped to one knee, his hands presenting a small velvet box to her. Slowly, he opened the box and revealed a delicate silver band set with a small diamond. "Sheila, will you marry me?"

Downstairs, Tucker and Church looked up expectantly at Donust as he descended. The young chef grinned and gave the pair a thumbs up. The three looked at each other for a moment.

"Earplugs in tonight, then?" Tucker asked with a grin.


	2. Bliss

**Notes:** Picks up immediately after the previous chapter, but was written almost 3 years later.

* * *

Sheila curled against him, half on top of his chest, her body still tingling in post-coital bliss. Her hand played idly with Dick's brown hair and the candlelight from their long-forgotten dinner caught the small diamond so recently placed on her finger. She stilled, staring again in awe at it. Beneath her, Dick noted the change and opened his eyes in concern.

"Sheila?" he asked, hesitantly lifting a hand to her face. "What's wrong, honey?" Slowly, she turned to face him, a brilliant smiled gradually stealing over her features.

"I love you, so much," she replied after several moments, and then kissed him firmly on the mouth. Dick grinned into it and rolled over with her so that he stradled her hips.

"The guys know well enough not to bother us, you know," he trailed off with a grin that borded on a leer. She returned it, and pulled him down to her.


	3. Close Call

**Notes:** Takes place during "Need a Lift" and thus before "Bliss". Also, I don't really have anything against Lopez, honest.

* * *

He was a nice young man, Sheila decided, with interests similar to her own. They even shared the same field of study, applied robotics! The only thing that made her slightly uncomfortable was they way Lopez had slowly manouvered them into a sheltered alcove, away from the bustle of the party. She silently wished that she'd stayed with Dick, but he'd been caught up in discussing the next phase of operations with his boss, a grizzled older man who prefered to just be called Sarge.

For now, though, Sheila stole quick glances around Lopez at the rest of the party, trying to spy her wayward boyfriend. He never showed, and the gleam in Lopez's eyes was beginning to seriously unnerve her. Sheila tugged self-consciously at the hem of her dress, wishing she'd worn something longer - though Dick always loved when she showed off her legs, and he'd been quite enthusiastic about the little blue number earlier. She felt herself drifting off into daydreams of Dick's enthusiasm when a foreign hand grabbing her arm roughly jerked her abruptly back to reality.

Lopez quickly pushed her against the wall, making her drop her drink on the floor. Sheila winced, both at the leering expression on his face and the sting of broken glass striking her bare legs. "What the hell are you doing?" she asked incredulously. He chuckled lowly at her.

"Ah, señorita, I've been wanting to do this for a long time," came his low voice in answer, and Sheila felt something inside her tighten in fear and apprehension. Before she could say anything else, he grabbed both of her hands in one of his and firmly placed the other over her mouth. "No more talking, señorita."

Frustrated and angry, Sheila aimed her foot at his crotch but was blocked by a well placed knee. Before either of them could recover, an infuriated voice spoke up from behind Lopez. "Just _what_ do you think you're doing with my girlfriend?"

The voice of Dick Simmons, computer programer, sent a shockwave of relief through Sheila and her knees buckled. Lopez didn't seem nearly as thrilled as he turned around to face her boyfriend.

"What's goin' on between us ain't any of your business, compadre," the older Hispanic man replied with a sneer. Sheila, her eyes on Dick, watched as his eyes flashed to hers for a moment before returning to Lopez.

"Seems to me the lady's not keen on your attentions," Dick said calmly, moving slowly closer as he did.

Lopez shrugged and smirked. "You know women - always saying no when they really mean yes." Before the man could utter another word, Dick launched himself forward and knocked Lopez to the ground, where the older man's head made a satisfying thud against the floor. Dick's punch to his face guaranteed that the other man would be out for a while.

Dick stood quickly afterwards and looked frantically over to her, quickly assessing the damage done. Without another word he rushed over to where she was leaning against the wall for support, the adrenaline rush leaving her drained. He pulled her into his arms then and held her close, breathing heavily in her ear.

"Dick?" she asked tentatively, and he pulled back to look at her face. "How did you know?"

He smiled gently at her then, and said softly, "I just had a feeling you might be in trouble."


	4. Secret Admirer

**Author's Notes:** Takes place during the high school years. Also, I established that Sheila and Simmons went to different schools, so... Valentine's Day fluff!  


* * *

The day's amusements started with a note taped to the steering wheel of the Tank. Curious as to how it came to be there, Sheila warily opened the note. The paper was covered in little red hearts, and Dick's handwriting stared back at here. _Happy Valentine's Day! Be mine?_ Sheila laughed a to herself, stuffed the note in her backpack, and started the Tank so that she'd be at school on time.

The second note appeared in her locker, and Sheila quirked an eyebrow at her boyfriend's ingenuity. He'd had to have somehow gotten into her locker, at her school and not his, before she made it to school that morning but after she'd left the day before. _I'll be thinking of you all day!_ read this note, in the shape of a heart on pick paper.

The next one showed up when she opened her calculus textbook. It was covered in glitter and looked rather like it was made by an 8-year-old, but her smile warmed despite the fact that her clothes were now covered in red and silver sparkles. _I've been planning something special for tonight,_ this note glittered at her.

By the time Sheila sat down with Tucker and Donut to lunch, she had a goofy grin on her face and glitter all over her arms. Donut grinned at her and Tucker looked torn between whistling obscenely and moving as far away from her as possible. The dark-skinned young man settled for raising a leering eyebrow and asking, "Simmons getting creative for V-Day?"

Sheila shot him a dirty look, but it was tempered by her inability to stop smiling. "He's hidden notes through my stuff for me to find today. Hell, he even put one in my locker!" Donut snickered at her indignation and guiltily raised a hand.

"I kinda helped with that one," the young man confessed, and was rewarded with Sheila's incredulous stare. He shrugged. "What? He offered to try and set me up with some friends of his." Sheila couldn't help but snort and smile at her friends.

The very next valentine she found in her lunchbox. This one was store-bought, and when she opened the card, it began singing. _"I've been dreaming of a true love's kiss, and the prince I'm hoping comes with this."_ Sheila immediately slammed the card shut as her face turned beet-red at the attention the noise had drawn from the nearby tables.

Her blush didn't dissipate any for the rest of the day, as one of her classmates handed her a teddy bear holding a heart and another note from Dick at the beginning of Spanish. During English class, another classmate passed to Sheila a rose adorned with another message from her boyfriend. By the time the last bell rang, Sheila bolted out the doors of the school to her Hummer, intent on getting home as quickly as possible.

She stopped in her tracks, however, when she saw Dick lounging against the side of the Tank, a single pink rose in his hands. Slowly she approached him, excited but wary by his presence at her car. When she was close enough, he leaned over, gently kissed her, and pressed the rose into her hands, whispering, "See you tonight." Then he was gone.

Sheila stared, dumbstruck, at the rose. As soon as Dick was out of hearing range - out of the parking lot, as it were - she let out a laughing, girly shriek of excitement and jumped into her car as fast as she could, starting the engine and heading for home and what promised to be a wonderfully romantic night with her boyfriend.


	5. Turned Upsidedown

**Author's Notes:** More from the AU series. I'm trying to create a feasible canon for this thing, but this falls well after anything I've written so far. Please, please let me know if anything seems way too unrealistic! Much darker than previous chapters, and also includes (canon!) alien non-con and m-preg. Just a lot more seriously than RvB ever took it.

* * *

The newscaster on the TV continued to extol the details of the latest battle against the Covenant, those strange aliens who had decided that humans should not be allowed to continue their existence. Sheila ignored the noise, focusing instead on the delicate process of cooking dinner for her husband. Not a housewife by any means, she had decided to do something special when Dick had called to say he was working late.

The ringing phone, however, interrupted both her conversation and the news report. Hitting the mute button on the remote, Sheila picked up the phone. "Simmons residence," she answered, trying to sound cheerful.

"Sheila?" The rough, haggard voice on the other end was hesitant, as if he didn't know if he'd called the right number.

"This is she," she replied warily.

"Oh thank god," the caller said. Relief was evident in his voice. "It's me, Tucker," the man clarified, and Sheila's eyes widened in surprise. She and Dick hadn't heard from their former housemate for almost two years, since he and Church had joined up for special operations against the Covenant.

"Tucker! Are you okay? You don't sound so great." In fact, he sounded downright awful; but, not knowing what her friend had been through in the last few years, Sheila couldn't in good conscience tell him that.

Tucker replied with a low chuckle. "I'm doing okay, but things aren't looking good for...me." He paused a moment before continuing. "Sheila? I...I need a place to stay for a bit. I don't want to impose, but at least for tonight, can I crash with you guys?" It pained Sheila to hear the pleading desperation in his voice.

"Of course you can," she replied gently. "Tucker, you're a friend, and we're not about to turn out friends in need."

"Sheila, you are a godsend. I should be there in about an hour, if it's no problem." Tucker's relief was palpable over the phone.

"An hour sounds about good. See you then!" Tucker made his own quick goodbyes, and Sheila hung up the phone just as Dick came in the door. With a quick glance at the unfinished dinner, she hurried out to meet him and tell him the news of their imminent guest.

----

Dinner had been a tense affair, nervous as the Simmonses were about seeing their old friend. Dick sat in his office, sending off some emails to colleagues about the work that had kept him late. Sheila, on the other hand, was nervously rearranging pillows on the couches, idly wondering why her friend would be in such bad shape. The chime of the doorbell made her jump, and she heard clattering in the office as Dick moved to join her in the hall.

On the other side of the door stood Tucker holding a wrapped bundle in his arms. The dark-skinned young man looked worn, his clothing decidedly second-hand, with bags under his eyes that were partly hidden by sunglasses. Sheila welcomed him in and shut the door behind him as her motherly instincts kicked in. Giving him a thorough once over, she determined that he hadn't been eating well, and he looked in desperate need of a shower and a good night's rest.

The trio moved into the living room, taking seats on the couches. Then Dick spoke up. "Tucker, it's great to see you, but where have you been? Church keeps in regular contact, but it's like you disappeared off the map." Tucker grimaced and gently shifted the bundle in his arms.

"I've gottta be honest with you two. You're probably not gonna want me around after I tell you my story." He held up a hand to stop Sheila's protesting. "But first, you guys should meet Junior," Tucker said, slowly unwrapping the bundle. Sheila held her breath in anticipation, her hand squeezing Dick's.

"What the hell is that?!" Dick exclaimed. Tucker sheilded the small creature against his chest while Sheila held her husband in place. Tucker didn't look inclined to answer Dick's question, so Sheila decided to speak up.

"Tucker?" She waited until he looked up at her, apprehension in his eyes. "Is that Junior?" she asked, and he nodded. "Is he...Tucker, is Junior one of the Covenant?" Another nod, more hesitant this time. "How...Tucker, how did you get him?"

Here her friend sighed and rubbed his face. Tucker took a deep breath and started his story.

----

_Tucker woke to pain and darkness. A quick check found his hands bound and secured to something. It also showed that he was alone. With a groan, Tucker sat up as best he could on the floor where he was situated and tried to remember what had happened. He'd been scouting with Church through the god-awful marshy terrain when the fog had come up and he hadn't realized that they'd been separated. He vaguely recalled a sharp, pricking feeling in his arm, and then nothing until now._

_He was peering into his dark surroundings when the door to his cell opened. The bright light now streaming in the doorway blinded him; only by squinting could Tucker make out the hulking silhouette in the door-frame. He couldn't stop the knot of fear forming in his gut - he'd been fighting the Covenant for over a year now, and this one had the shape of one of their Elite warriors. No human had yet won in a fight against them. Tucker clenched his bound fists and braced himself against the wall as it entered the room._

_--_

_Tucker shivered on the cold floor of his cell as the Elite left. The alien had untied his hands, and Tucker wrapped his arms around his knees, sitting in a fetal position against the wall. It took all of his will not to break down crying._

_"Fuck, fuck, fuck..." he muttered to himself, trying to ignore the pains and aches in places he didn't even want to think about. Tucker had never felt so exposed, vulnerable, or violated in his entire life. With a shuddering sigh, he leaned his head against the wall as silent tears tracked their way down his face._

_--_

_The alien - and it was only ever one who came into his cell - couldn't speak English, or any other human language for that matter. It used a series of grunts instead, though he couldn't tell if it was language or something else. Tucker had started calling it Crunchbite in his head, due to the wicked teeth inside its frightening mouth. But Crunchbite had started being gentler with him, almost caressing Tucker's face and body after it finished its...business. What bothered Tucker most was that he was getting used to Crunchbite, to the painful, humiliating, shameful visits. He shuddered and ate some more of the thin gruel-like substance that had been pushed through the slot in the door, praying that he'd get out of there soon._

_--_

_Something was different today. Crunchbite seemed more nervous, anxious than usual. In fact, he left the door open this time and grabbed Tucker by his arm, hauling him up and out of the door. Tucker's ragged clothing left him much more exposed than he'd like to be, but he was more concerned with keeping up with Crunchbite._

_They approached another door, and Crunchbite stopped in front of it, turning Tucker around to face him. It looked as though the alien were struggling with something, and finally it ground out a few words in English, surprising Tucker completely._

_"You carry savior," Crunchbite ground out, motioning with his hand to Tucker's midsection. The soldier's eyes widened. "Go. Be safe." With that, Crunchbite opened the door and pushed him out, back into the marshlands he'd been taken from._

_--_

_The pain was excruciating. He didn't even have the right kind of bodily equipment for giving birth! All he really had were some blankets pilfered from an abandoned camp, something to staunch the bleeding. His muscles spasmed, wrenching a pained cry from his lips._

_Before long, through the agony, Tucker felt a change in his body. The pain began to lessen, slowly, and something soft bumped against his arm. Half unconscious, Tucker pulled it close to him as protective instincts he didn't know he had surfaced._

_--_

_Tucker held Junior to him, praying that this transport wouldn't be searched thoroughly. He'd been able to make his way into a half-abandoned military outpost to snag the two of them some clothing, though only the large T-shirts even began to fit Junior. The alien baby was growing steadily, his diet consisting of whatever game Tucker was able to catch while on the run._

_The pair, father and son, huddled together between boxes in the hold of the cargo ship, finally on their way to Earth._

----

As Tucker finished his story, Sheila felt her heart breaking for her friend and his...son. Junior blinked sleepily at her, and she couldn't help but smile at the small thing's innocence.

"If the government gets their hands on Junior, they'll tear him apart," Tucker was saying. Sheila turned her attention to her friend and her husband. "I can't let that happen to him. It doesn't matter if Crunchbite...did that to me. Junior's my kid. We've come a long way together, and I can't give him up like that."

Sheila opened her mouth to respond, but Dick beat her to it. "Tucker, you can stay here as long as you like." Tucker stared at them incredulously. "I mean it. You're our friend, and you've been through a hell of a lot for that kid."

"We could never put you out on the street," Sheila continued. She stood and moved over to where Tucker and Junior sat on the couch, given her old friend a hug and his alien child a kiss on the head. "Family is family regardless of blood," she murmured.


End file.
